Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 December 2018
49. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the engagement he had at the COP24 summit; and if funding programmes for decarbonisation here were identified. [53417/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra50. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will report on the United Nations climate summit in Katowice. [53443/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Minister attended the meeting in Katowice. It would be very useful for the House to understand his level of engagement with our multilateral partners and through the prism of the European Union.
Arising from the new rule book that has been agreed with regard to putting the 2015 Paris Agreement into real action, will the Minister give me a sense of his vision in terms of the type of funding instruments the Government will use to move us to a rapid decarbonisation phase?
I propose to take Questions Nos. 49 and 50 together.
I think Deputy Sherlock has extended the question he originally asked considerably, but that is fair and proper. This year's United Nations climate conference, COP24, took place in Katowice in Poland over the past two weeks. I participated in the opening of the conference and also attended the high-level segment last week where I delivered Ireland's national statement and had a series of engagements, including with the authors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, special report, EU ministerial colleagues, ministers from other nations, the Green Climate Fund and Adaptation Fund, which we support, and non-governmental organisations working for climate action, so it was a very informative session.
The message from the UN climate conference was stark. The window of opportunity to contain the level of climate disruption is closing very rapidly. The consequences of failure are catastrophic. We saw this at first hand with regard to some Pacific islands, which face an existential threat as to whether their communities can survive. The other positive thing is that the technologies are largely available to meet the challenge. The challenge involves how we can collectively motivate our communities and organise the resources to make the changes. The other positive thing is that, by and large, there are positive economic and social outcomes in terms of health, the economy and the environment associated with meeting these targets. The challenge to governments was very stark.
The agreement was significant. Europe was pushing for more ambition but the rule book is nonetheless significant because, for the first time, countries like China and Germany will be measured against the same standard. All countries will make their contribution commitment from which they can never withdraw. A country can only improve its commitment. There will be an effort to improve it next year.
The conference was a qualified success. The funding mechanisms that were discussed were not for Ireland. They were funding mechanisms whereby better-off countries like Ireland contribute to change. At the conference, I announced an additional €4.5 million for the Adaptation Fund, the Green Climate Fund and the nationally determined contributions, NDC, scheme. We increased our funding. It is part of better-off states helping in terms of the adjustments relating to countries like the Pacific islands and Senegal, which face very serious challenges.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
This conference was a significant milestone in international climate policy. Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015, the focus of international negotiations has been on the design of the structures and implementing rules which will enable the Paris Agreement to come into operation. Parties to the Paris Agreement committed in 2015 to concluding work on these implementing rules by the end of this year. This work has reached a successful conclusion. The agreed rules put in place the structures for tracking global emissions, providing capacity building and financial support and facilitating action to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
COP24 also saw the conclusion of a year-long process of reflection on the imperative of scaling up global efforts to address climate change, facilitated by the current and previous COP presidencies, Poland and Fiji. Informed by the IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C, the outcome of this Talanoa Dialogue will facilitate a re-examination by parties of their existing commitments and consideration of whether to submit more ambitious commitments by 2020.
In my national statement to the conference, I underlined the importance of global multilateral engagement in driving momentum towards more ambitious climate polices. I informed the conference of my intention to develop an all-of-Government plan to help make Ireland a leader in responding to climate change.
At the conference, I announced additional climate funding for 2018 totalling €4.5 million for a range of organisations supporting developing counties to implement their climate policies, including the Green Climate Fund, the Adaptation Fund, and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. I was also able to announce additional funding for the IPCC to support its very important work in informing the international community with the best available scientific advice on climate change.
Alongside the formal negotiations, COP meetings also provide a valuable opportunity for countries, regions and the private sector to showcase climate related initiatives. My officials and I participated in a number of meetings and side events relating to emission reduction initiatives that will help inform the further development of Ireland's domestic climate policies, including side events on the design of urban infrastructure, on energy transition and on e-vehicle infrastructure.
The Minister addressed the Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action on 5 December and made very specific references to the €500 million climate action fund. He has already said that there are seven major climate change projects that will share €77 million in Government funding. He also made reference to the sovereign green bond. If we are talking about how the decisions we will make by 2020 will determine whether global heating can be kept at 1.5° centigrade above pre-industrial levels, that expenditure will be vital in terms of programmes that will be put to good use on our own little island. I would like to hear the Minister tell us what sense of urgency exists across the Government with regard to deploying that funding in very specific areas like decarbonisation of buildings, transport networks and smart grids. I would like to get a sense from him that there is an urgency across Government with regard to its own response. If we are signing up to this rule book as per the 2015 Paris Agreement and if we are serious about hitting the pre-industrial targets in terms of mitigating against a 1.5° centigrade increase in temperature by 2020, what measures is the Government taking?
I am concerned that Ireland did not join the 27 countries that formed the High Ambition Coalition. During the summit, this group committed to scaling up commitments in line with the Paris Agreement targets. The Minister might provide some detail as to why we did not do this or why it was not possible for us to do this. However, Ireland did join the eight other countries to work together to establish a carbon floor price. This is welcome and necessary. The year 2020 is crunch time. It is well established that we will not meet our 2020 targets. I do not propose that we go back over the arguments, which have already been well argued over a number of months. Does the Minister believe there are further opportunities to develop this grouping and encourage mutual improvements?
I believe this is the biggest challenge we face as a community. It will take a sense of urgency not just here in the House but in every home, business, school and public service in respect of thinking about the challenges and how they can contribute. While the climate action fund is very important, it is much more about priming the pump. The Deputies will see that we chose demonstration projects like the electric vehicle network, the gas initiative and LED lighting. These are demonstration projects. The public service and the State cannot do all the heavy lifting in terms of funding the change we need to make. That is something we need to admit. With €30 billion on climate action and sustainable transport, the national development plan will reduce the target by 22 million tonnes. It is about a third of the journey we must make.
Clearly, it is very hard to sign up to more ambitious targets, when we are 95% off the target we set for 2020. What we need to do is face up honestly to the policy instruments we need to put in place to get to where we committed instead of making the hollow gesture of saying it will be even more when we have not got our house in order. I am not opposed to setting more ambitious targets and I hope we will be able to set more ambitious targets for the future, but I need to get delivery of initiatives. I had a meeting yesterday with all the assistant secretaries from all of the Departments involved to start to tease out what we can do. There are obstacles. This is going to be a challenge politically and in terms of coming up with policy ideas.
I welcome the Minister's commitment, about which there is no question. In asking the question, I was trying to find out what the sense in Government is. I understand that the Minister has met the various line Departments but it is about a whole-of-Government approach led directly by the Taoiseach that recognises the urgency of the challenge and ensures that the net behavioural change that needs to happen so that we can hit these targets is implemented. I would not like to see this become too process-driven. I would like for it to be recognised across all line Departments that the silos within Government should be broken down and that this is probably one of the biggest challenges we will face as a country for the foreseeable future. I would like to see a massive response in terms of the initiatives that citizens can avail of in terms of better transport networks and decarbonising buildings such as public buildings and schools. I would like to get timelines from the Minister as to when he can start rolling out that funding for bespoke projects.
The draft EU long-term strategy on greenhouse gas emissions, which was published on 28 November, also proposes a climate neutral vision by 2050. A number of key decisions are scheduled for early next year, such as the future of the carbon tax, the report of the Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action, and the Government's cross-departmental plan, which the Minister spoke about and indicated he is moving on through, for example, meeting the assistant secretaries. Does the Minister believe that Ireland will be well placed to meet our 2030 targets earlier rather than later in the decade? As he is aware, the longer our emissions are allowed to grow in the first half of the decade, the greater the measures we will have to take in the second half. If we all agree that measures need to be taken, it is easier to progress them sooner rather than later.
There is no doubt that the sooner we start making changes, the quicker the impact will be and the less adjustment we will have to make. However, doing something like getting our renewables from the current 30% on the power system up to, say, 60% requires a number of sequential measures to be put in place. We need to strengthen the grid and start to hold the auctions. We need to see the technologies such as offshore wind being developed to a point where they are economic.
We cannot just press the button and have them all fall into place. By necessity, some of these measures are sequenced. I indicated to the committee that we are looking across a number of policy areas, such as market failure and the lack of a carbon price, as well as regulation. We are looking at every conceivable area and policy initiative across the sector, from buildings, industry, agriculture, transport and houses to the public service itself. Some public service bodies are exemplary in the way they have improved energy efficiency, while others have done virtually nothing. That is not acceptable. We need to set new standards at every level and the Deputy is correct that we need to hold people to account on strict timelines. We will not do everything in one year. This will be a rolling programme.
